Composition of the Entente in the First World War. Entente and Triple Alliance

Formation of the Triple Alliance and the Entente.

Since the system collective security ceased to exist, each country began to look for an ally. France was the first to begin this search. After the Franco-Prussian War, on its eastern border there were now not several dozen German monarchies independent from each other, but a single empire, surpassing France in population and economic power. In addition, France was forced to transfer its territories to the enemy: the province of Alsace and a third of the province of Lorraine. This gave Germany a strategic advantage: it had access to the plain of Northern France in its hands. From this moment, realizing the impossibility of a one-on-one fight, France itself begins active search allies to balance the power of the new Germany.

German Chancellor Bismarck, who did more than anyone else to unify the country, main goal saw his diplomacy in preventing an alliance between France and other great powers. He understood how vulnerable the situation was German Empire, which, unlike France, was surrounded on three sides by great powers: Austria-Hungary, Russia and France itself. An alliance of the latter with any of the remaining two exposed Germany to the prospect of a war on two fronts, which Bismarck considered a direct road to defeat.

Triple Alliance

A way out of this situation was found along the lines of rapprochement with Austria-Hungary. The latter, in turn, entering into increasingly intense rivalry with Russia in the Balkans, needed an ally.

Consolidating this rapprochement, Germany and Austria-Hungary signed a treaty in 1879, under which they pledged to support each other in the event of an attack by the Russian Empire. Italy joined the alliance of these states, which was looking for support in the conflict with France over control of North Africa.

In 1882 the Triple Alliance was created. Germany and Italy assumed obligations of mutual assistance in the event of an attack by France, and Italy, in addition, promised Austria-Hungary neutrality in the event of a conflict with Russia. Bismarck also hoped that Russia would refrain from conflict with Germany due to its close economic, dynastic and traditional political ties with it and its reluctance Russian Emperor enter into an alliance with republican, democratic France.

In 1904 they settled everything mutual claims, which arose in connection with the colonial division of the world, and established “cordial agreement” among themselves. In French it sounds like "entente cordial", hence Russian name this alliance is the Entente. Russia signed a military convention with France back in 1893. In 1907, she settled all her differences with England and actually joined the Entente.

Features of new unions

This is how unexpected and strange alliances developed. France and England have been enemies since the Hundred Years' War, Russia and France - since the revolution of 1789. The Entente united the two most democratic states in Europe - England and France - with autocratic Russia.

Two traditional allies of Russia - Austria and Germany - found themselves in the camp of its enemies. The alliance of Italy with its yesterday's oppressor and the main enemy of the unification - Austria-Hungary, on whose territory the Italian population also remained, also looked strange. The Austrian Habsburgs and the Prussian Hohenzollerns, who had been vying for control of Germany for centuries, found themselves in the same coalition, while blood relatives, cousins, William II on the one hand, Nicholas II and King Edward VII of Great Britain, his wife, were in opposing alliances.

So on turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, two opposing coalitions emerged in Europe - the Triple Alliance and the Entente. The rivalry between them was accompanied by an arms race.

The creation of coalitions in itself was not unusual in European politics. Let us remember, for example, that the most major wars The 18th century - Northern and Seven Years - were fought by coalitions, just like the wars against Napoleonic France in the 19th century.

Soldiers of the First World War

“Everyone is looking and not finding the reason why the war started. Their searches are in vain; they will not find this reason. The war did not begin for any one reason, the war began for all reasons at once” (Thomas Woodrow Wilson). First World War covers the period from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. It was a large-scale armed conflict. The war divided world history for two eras, opening a completely new page of it, filled with social explosions and upheavals.
This name for the war became established in historiography after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Previously, the name " Great War"(English) TheGreatWar, fr. La grande guerre), in the Russian Empire it was called the “Second Patriotic War,” and also informally (both before the revolution and after) - "German"; then to the USSR - "imperialist war".

For almost the entire 19th century, the major powers were heading towards open conflict, as a result of which the fate of not just Europe, but the entire world, was to be decided. England, France, Russia, and a little later Germany and Austria-Hungary were not going to compromise.

The threat of war could not be prevented either by the numerous alliances formed, since almost all of them turned out to be fictitious, or even by the close relationship of almost all the reigning families. In fact, future enemies - the rulers of Russia, England and Germany - were cousins. But national interests for them they stood above reason and family ties.

38 people were involved in a military conflict on a global scale. independent states out of 59 existing at that time. And each side had its own reasons for participating in the war.

The First World War was a war between two coalitions of powers: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) and the Entente (Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, later Japan, Italy, Romania, USA, etc.).

World at the turn of the century

On turn of XIX-XX i.v. capitalism developed into imperialism. The world was almost completely divided between the largest powers. But this section could not be final. There were always parts of disputed territories, remnants of crumbling empires (for example, the Portuguese possessions in Africa, which, according to a secret agreement concluded by Great Britain and Germany in 1898, were to be divided between the two powers; the Ottoman Empire slowly collapsed throughout the 19th century and represented tasty pieces for young predators). Having colonies means not only having markets and sources of raw materials, but also being a great and respected power.

The beginning of the 20th century was also marked by the emergence of a number of unifying trends: pan-Germanism, pan-Slavism, etc. Each of these movements demanded a vast, homogeneous space for itself and sought to break up the existing heterogeneous formations, primarily Austria-Hungary, a mosaic state united only by the belonging of each part to the Habsburg dynasty.

The global confrontation between the great powers, primarily England and Germany, intensified, and a struggle began for the redivision of the world, including the redistribution of colonies.

Contradictions appeared in certain regions: the confrontation in the Balkans between Russia and its ally Serbia and Austria-Hungary, together with allied Bulgaria, became particularly acute. The situation was aggravated by the fact that England, Germany, France and Italy also pursued their interests here. By 1914, Germany had emerged as the dominant military power in the Balkan region, bringing the Ottoman army under control. Russia's desire to master the Black Sea straits was now blocked not only by England, but also by the German-Turkish military alliance.

Near and Far East The new superpowers, the USA and Japan, sought to spread their influence.

In Europe, the political and economic rivalry between Germany and France was obvious, as they fought for hegemony in the field of production and sales in Europe.

Interests of countries

Great Britain (as part of the Entente)

She was afraid of a potential German threat, so she switched to the policy of forming an anti-German bloc of states.

She did not want to put up with German penetration into areas that she considered “hers”: East and South-West Africa. She also wanted to take revenge on Germany for supporting the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Therefore, in fact, it was already waging an undeclared economic and trade war against Germany and was actively preparing for war with it.

France (part of the Entente)

She wanted to recoup the defeat inflicted on her by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. She wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine, separated from France in 1871. She fought with Germany for markets, but at the same time feared German aggression. It was also important for France to preserve its colonies (North Africa).

Russia (as part of the Entente)

The main interest for Russia was control over the Dardanelles Strait; it wanted to have free passage for its fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway (1898), Russia saw an unfriendly act on the part of Germany, an encroachment on its rights in Asia, although in 1911 these differences with Germany were resolved by the Potsdam Agreement.

Austria's influence was growing in the Balkans, which Russia also did not want to put up with, as well as the fact that Germany was gaining strength and began to dictate its terms in Europe.

Russia considered itself the main one among Slavic peoples, she tried to support the anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish sentiments of the Serbs and Bulgarians.

Serbia (as part of the Entente)

She wanted to establish herself in the Balkans as the leader of the Slavic peoples of the peninsula, to form Yugoslavia, including all the Slavs living in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Unofficially supported nationalist organizations that fought against Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

German Empire (Triple Alliance)

Striving for military, economic and political dominance on the European continent. She was trying to get equal rights in the colonial possessions of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.

In the Entente she saw an alliance against herself.

Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance)

Due to its multinationality, it played the role of a constant source of instability in Europe. She tried to hold on to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which she captured in 1908. It opposed Russia because Russia took on the role of protector of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia.

USA before the First World War they were the world's largest debtor, and after the war they became the world's sole creditor.

Preparing for war

The state had been preparing for a world war as a means of resolving external and internal contradictions for many years, and the creation of a system of military-political blocs began. This began with the Austro-German treaty of 1879, the participants of which pledged to provide assistance to each other in the event of war with Russia. In 1882, Italy joined them, seeking support in the fight against France for the possession of Tunisia. Thus arose the Triple Alliance of 1882, or the alliance of the Central Powers, directed against Russia and France, and later against Great Britain. In contrast to him, another coalition of European powers began to take shape. The Russian-French alliance of 1891-93 was formed, which provided for joint actions of these countries in the event of aggression from Germany or aggression from Italy and Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany. The growth of Germany's economic power at the beginning of the 20th century. forced Great Britain to gradually abandon the traditional policy of “splendid isolation” and seek rapprochement with France and Russia. Anglo-French agreement of 1904 Disputes between Great Britain and France on colonial issues were settled, and the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 cemented the agreement between Russia and Great Britain regarding their policies in Tibet, Afghanistan, and Iran. These documents formalized the creation of the Triple Entente, or Entente- a bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia that opposed the Triple Alliance. In 1912, the Anglo-French and Franco-Russian agreements were signed maritime conventions, in 1913 negotiations began on concluding an Anglo-Russian maritime convention.

In preparation for a world war, states created a powerful military industry, the basis of which was large state factories: weapons, powder, shells, cartridges, shipbuilding, etc. Private enterprises were involved in the production of military products: in Germany - Krupp factories, in Austria-Hungary - Skoda , in France - Schneider-Creusot and Saint-Chamon, in Great Britain - Vickers and Armstrong-Whitworth, in Russia - the Putilov plant, etc. The achievements of science and technology were put in the service of preparing for war. More advanced weapons appeared: repeating rapid-fire rifles and machine guns, which greatly increased firepower infantry; In artillery, the number of rifled guns of the latest systems has sharply increased.

The development was of great strategic importance railways, which made it possible to significantly speed up the concentration and deployment of large military masses in theaters of military operations and to ensure an uninterrupted supply of active armies with human replacements and all types of material and technical support. More and more important role road transport began to play. Arose military aviation. The use of new means of communication in military affairs (telegraph, telephone, radio) facilitated the organization of command and control of troops. The number of armies and trained reserves increased rapidly. In the field of naval armaments there was persistent rivalry between Germany and Great Britain. Since 1905, a new type of ship was built - dreadnoughts. By 1914, the German fleet was firmly in second place in the world after the British fleet. Other states also sought to strengthen their navies.

Ideological preparations for war were also carried out: the people were instilled with the idea of ​​its inevitability through propaganda.

It is known that the reason for the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by the Serbian nationalist, a member of the Young Bosnia organization Gavrilo Princip. But that was just an excuse. As one historian put it, this murder can be called setting fire to the fuse, behind which there was a barrel of gunpowder.

Triple Alliance

The basis of the Triple Alliance was formed in two stages, between 1879 and 1882. The first participants were Germany and Austria-Hungary, which concluded a treaty in 1879, and Italy also joined in 1882. Italy did not fully share the policy of the alliance, in particular it had a non-aggression agreement with Great Britain in the event of a conflict between the latter and Germany. Thus, the Triple Alliance included part of the Central and of Eastern Europe from Baltic to Mediterranean seas, some countries of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as western Ukraine, which was then part of Austria-Hungary.

Almost two years after the start, in 1915, Italy, which was suffering enormous financial losses, withdrew from the Triple Alliance and went over to the Entente side. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary. After their accession the bloc was part of the Quadruple Alliance (or Central Powers).

The military-political bloc Entente (from the French “accord”) was also not formed immediately and became a response to the rapidly growing influence and aggressive policy of the countries of the Triple Alliance. The creation of the Entente was divided into three stages.

In 1891 Russian empire entered into an alliance agreement with France, to which a defensive convention was added in 1892. In 1904, Great Britain, seeing a threat to its policy from the Triple Alliance, entered into an alliance with France, and in 1907 with Russia. Thus, the backbone of the Entente was formed, which became the Russian Empire, the French and the British Empire.

It was these three countries, as well as Italy and the Republic of San Marino, which joined in 1915, that took the most active part in the war on the side of the Entente, but in fact, 26 more states joined this bloc at various stages.

Among the countries of the Balkan region, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Romania joined the Triple Alliance. Others European countries The new additions were Belgium and Portugal.

Countries Latin America Almost in full force came out on the side of the Entente. She was supported by Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Brazil, Cuba and Panama. The northern neighbor, the USA, was not a member of the Entente, but took part in the war on its side as an independent ally.

The war also affected some countries in Asia and Africa. In these, China and Japan, Siam, Hijaz and Liberia took the side of the Entente.

Sources:

• “History of the First World War 1914-1918”, team of authors, M.: Nauka, 1975.
• “The First World War”, Zaichonkovsky A. M. St. Petersburg: Polygon Publishing House LLC, 2002.

The Triple Alliance and the Entente are military-political blocs formed at the end XIX beginning XX centuries, the main European powers. During the First World War, these coalitions were the main opposing forces.

Triple Alliance

The beginning of the division of Europe into hostile camps with the creation in 1879-1882 of the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. It was this military-political bloc that played a decisive role in the preparation and outbreak of the First World War.

The initiator of the Triple Alliance was Germany, which in 1879 concluded an agreement with Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Treaty, also known as the Dual Alliance, was primarily directed against France and Russia. Subsequently this agreement became the basis for the creation of a military bloc, which was headed by Germany, after which European states finally divided into 2 hostile camps.

In the spring of 1882, Italy joined Austria-Hungary and Germany. On May 20, 1882, these countries entered into a secret treaty on the Triple Alliance. According to the agreement signed for a period of 5 years, the allies assumed obligations not to take part in any agreements directed against these states, to provide mutual support and consult on all political and economic issues. Also, all participants in the Triple Alliance pledged, in the event of joint participation in a war, not to conclude a separate peace and to keep the agreement on the Triple Alliance secret.

By the end of the 19th century, Italy, under the weight of losses from the customs war with France, began to gradually change its political course. In 1902, she had to conclude an agreement with the French on neutrality in the event of an attack on France by Germany. Just before the outbreak of World War I, Italy, as a result of a secret agreement known as the Pact of London, left the Triple Alliance and joined the Entente.

Entente

The response to the creation of the Triple Alliance was

The Entente and the Triple Alliance are military-political associations, each of which pursued its own interests; they were opposing forces during the First World War.

The Entente is a political union of three friendly states - Russia, England and France, created in 1895.

Unlike the Triple Alliance, which was a military bloc even before the Entente, it became a full-fledged military association only when gun shots thundered over Europe in 1914. It was in this year that England, France and Russia signed an agreement under which they committed themselves not to enter into agreements with their opponents.

The Triple Alliance emerged from Austria-Hungary in 1879. A little later, namely in 1882, they were joined by Italy, which completed the process of formation of this military-political bloc. He played a significant role in creating the situations that led to the outbreak of the First World War. In accordance with the clauses of the agreement, signed for a five-year period, the countries participating in this agreement pledged not to participate in actions directed against one of them and to provide all possible support for each other. According to their agreement, all three parties were to serve as so-called “backers.” In the event of an attack on Italy, it reliable protection Germany and Austria-Hungary became. In the case of Germany, its supporters, Italy and Austria-Hungary, who were a trump card in the event of Russian participation in military operations.

The Triple Alliance was concluded on a secret basis and with minor reservations on the part of Italy. Since she did not want to enter into conflict relations with Great Britain, she warned her allies not to count on her support if any of them were attacked by Great Britain.

The creation of the Triple Alliance served as an impetus for the formation of a counterweight in the form of the Entente, which included France, Russia and Great Britain. It was this confrontation that led to the outbreak of the First World War.

The Triple Alliance lasted until 1915, since Italy already participated in military operations on the side of the Entente. This redistribution of forces was preceded by the neutrality of this country in relations between Germany and France, with which it was not beneficial for the “native” to spoil relations.

The Triple Alliance was eventually replaced by the Quadruple Alliance, in which Italy was replaced Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.

The Entente and the Triple Alliance were extremely interested in the territory of the Balkan Peninsula, the Near Peninsula and Germany wanted to capture part of France and its colonies; Austria-Hungary needed control of the Balkans; England pursued the goal of weakening Germany's position, securing a global market monopoly, and also maintaining naval power; France dreamed of returning the territories of Alsace and Lorraine taken away during the Franco-Prussian War; Russia wanted to take root in the Balkans and seize the western

Largest quantity controversy was associated with Balkan Peninsula. Both the first and second blocs wanted to strengthen their positions in this region. The struggle began with peaceful diplomatic methods, accompanied by parallel preparation and strengthening of the countries' military forces. Germany and Austria-Hungary actively took up the modernization of troops. Russia was the least prepared.

The event that served and prompted the start of hostilities was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia by a student. A shot at a moving car hit not only Ferdinand, but also his wife. On July 15, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia...

The Entente (from the French Entente, Entente cordiale - cordial agreement) - an alliance of Great Britain, France and Russia (Triple Entente), took shape in 1904-1907 and united more than 20 states during the First World War (1914-1918) against the coalition of the Central Powers , including the USA, Japan, Italy.

The creation of the Entente was preceded by the conclusion of a Russian-French alliance in 1891-1893 in response to the creation of the Triple Alliance (1882) led by Germany.

The formation of the Entente is associated with the disengagement of the great powers at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, caused by a new balance of forces in international arena and the aggravation of contradictions between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy on the one hand, France, Great Britain and Russia, on the other.
The sharp intensification of Anglo-German rivalry, caused by Germany's colonial and trade expansion in Africa, the Middle East and other areas, and the naval arms race, prompted Great Britain to seek an alliance with France and then with Russia.

In 1904, a British-French agreement was signed, followed by a Russo-British agreement (1907). These treaties actually formalized the creation of the Entente.

Russia and France were allies bound by mutual military obligations determined by the military convention of 1892 and subsequent decisions of the general staffs of both states. The British government, despite contacts between the British and French general staffs and the naval commands established in 1906 and 1912 did not assume specific military obligations. The formation of the Entente softened the differences between its participants, but did not eliminate them. These differences were revealed more than once, which Germany took advantage of in an attempt to tear Russia away from the Entente. However, strategic calculations and aggressive plans of Germany doomed these attempts to failure.

In turn, the Entente countries, preparing for war with Germany, took steps to separate Italy and Austria-Hungary from the Triple Alliance. Although Italy formally remained part of the Triple Alliance before the outbreak of World War I, the ties of the Entente countries with it strengthened, and in May 1915 Italy went over to the Entente side.

After the outbreak of the First World War, in September 1914 in London, an agreement was signed between Great Britain, France and Russia on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, replacing the allied military treaty. In October 1915, Japan joined this agreement, which in August 1914 declared war on Germany.

During the war, new states gradually joined the Entente. By the end of the war, the states of the anti-German coalition (not counting Russia, which left after October revolution 1917 from the war) included Great Britain, France, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Italy, China, Cuba, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, San Domingo, San Marino, Serbia, Siam, USA, Uruguay, Montenegro, Hijaz, Ecuador, Japan.

The main participants of the Entente - Great Britain, France and Russia, from the first days of the war entered into secret negotiations on the goals of the war. The British-French-Russian agreement (1915) provided for the transfer of the Black Sea straits to Russia, the London Treaty (1915) between the Entente and Italy determined the territorial acquisitions of Italy at the expense of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Albania. The Sykes-Picot Treaty (1916) divided Turkey's Asian possessions between Great Britain, France and Russia.

During the first three years of the war, Russia drew off significant enemy forces, coming quickly to the aid of the Allies as soon as Germany launched serious offensives in the West.

After the October Revolution of 1917, Russia’s withdrawal from the war did not disrupt the Entente’s victory over the German bloc, because Russia fully fulfilled its allied obligations, unlike England and France, who more than once broke their promises of help. Russia gave England and France the opportunity to mobilize all their resources. The struggle of the Russian army allowed the United States to expand its production power, create an army and replace Russia, which had emerged from the war - the United States officially declared war on Germany in April 1917.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Entente organized an armed intervention against Soviet Russia— On December 23, 1917, Great Britain and France signed a corresponding agreement. In March 1918, the Entente intervention began, but the campaigns against Soviet Russia ended in failure. The goals that the Entente set for itself were achieved after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, but the strategic alliance between the leading Entente countries, Great Britain and France, remained in the following decades.

General political and military leadership activities of the block in different periods carried out: Inter-Allied conferences (1915, 1916, 1917, 1918), Supreme Council Entente, Inter-Allied (Executive) Military Committee, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, main headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, commanders-in-chief and headquarters in individual theaters of military operations. Such forms of cooperation were used as bilateral and multilateral meetings and consultations, contacts between commanders-in-chief and general staffs through representatives of the allied armies and military missions. However, the difference in military-political interests and goals, military doctrines, an incorrect assessment of the forces and means of the opposing coalitions, their military capabilities, the remoteness of the theaters of military operations, and the approach to the war as a short-term campaign did not allow the creation of a unified and permanent military-political leadership of the coalition in the war.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources